Calling all garden enthusiasts

Please take pity on my black thumb.

Okay, it’s not really black. Still. I have, after all, managed not only to kill a cute little cactus plant some years ago, but I also apparently frustrated it enough to cause it to plot and scheme and finally find a way to puncture me with one of its devious needles before it finally melted into a pool of mush. (I shouldn’t have been lulled by its diminutive size.)

But a few years ago, I planted some gladiolas out front and was amazed at the mass of gorgeous blooms that decorated the house all summer. So I got a bit bolder, and put two rose bushes in the front, too. The next year, they burst the spring season wide open with 30+ (yes, I counted) fist-sized roses on each plant.

I couldn’t believe something I planted could actually produce such beautiful flowers. I thought I finally put an end to my horticidal tendencies. (I don’t know if that’s an actual word, but it should be.) But this year, the rose bushes are looking sad and forlorn, not to mention yellow and rusted and spotted all over. First I thought it might be black rot. Then I thought maybe an aphid attack. Then I spied Japanese beetles loitering around, the nasty goons. Now I think it might be all those and some other stuff just biding their time until their chance to pull an ambush presents itself.

My gladiolas aren’t doing too good either. Bolstered by the repeat blooms the following year even without digging up the bulbs, I left them in again the next year. Now there are significantly more leaves than flowers. It looks like I have a giant scallion bed. To make matters worse, the pesky chipmunks have managed to dig up just about every hyacinth and tulip bulb, leaving only a few daffodils looking quite sparse and friendless.

Oh, and four years ago, we planted a whole bunch of mums in every imaginable color, and those lovely little flower balls were such a happy sight coming up the driveway. And now? Don’t ask me how, but although the hardy little mums survived, they’re all the same shade of dark pink/purple. What happened? I planted an equal opportunity mum garden! Where did all the others go?

Are you feeling properly sorry and aww-shucks-y and there-there-y for me yet? Can you feel my black thumb tugging at your very soul, begging for some glimmer of hope in this dark brush otherwise known as my front garden? Can you find it in your heart and thumb and aching knee to help me?

Well, this time, I’ve decided to start from scratch. Yes, I’m pulling up all the gladiolus bulbs (every stinkin’ one of the 90+ ones out front). The daffodils will go too, but I’m looking to relocate them somewhere else because they’re still purty and I don’t want to hurt their feelings. I’m on a mission to find some friends to play with my monochromatic mums, and am debating the merits of attempting to salvage my roses bushes versus simply giving up on them.

I’ll post some pictures of the area I need to re-design, but in the meantime, I’m desperate for suggestions as to flower or plant combinations. Our area is zone 6, and the front gets a pretty good amount of sunlight (more direct light in the morning than afternoon). But I do have one side of the house that’s shady, and it can use some sprucing up as well.

I know beggars can’t be choosers, but just in case you’re feeling particularly charitable:

  1. Stuff that will repel chipmunks, deer, squirrels, rabbits, mosquitoes, and giant crocodiles will always be welcome. If they can also attract a platypus, then they’ve got a spot in my garden. I’ve always wondered what those weirdos look like up close.
  2. Given the whole gladiola experience, I’d rather not put something down that I’d have to either dig up every winter or divide every year. I know, I know. I’m a bum.
  3. I need disease-resistant plants. Come to think of it, I need to be disease-resistant myself. I attract enough germs and pests as it is. Must have something to do with bum-hood.
  4. Since we’ve already established that I’m a bum, and bums don’t typically have wads of cash to spend on plants every season, then I guess it’s safe to say that I’m partial to bulbs and perennials rather than annuals.

I throw myself at your feet hoping that next year’s garden will look more like … like … well, let’s just say I hope it will look a lot less like the thicket it is now. (Unless ‘tumbleweed nouveau’ is slated to become the next new chic look, in which case maybe I’m just a landscape savant.)

Until then, I’ll sit back and suck my black thumb until I figure out what to do with the mess outside.

Or maybe we can just move.

(Please don’t make us move. I still have unopened boxes from my last move four years ago. But that’s another story.)

14 thoughts on “Calling all garden enthusiasts”

  1. I don’t have a particularly green thumb either, but Black-eyed Susans (I don’t know the horticultural name for them) are very hard to kill, very pretty, bloom nearly all summer and fill in nicely after a few years.

    I feel your pain though. The rabbits killed my three rose bushes and the torrential rains we had in August killed a whole section of the garden in the back yard ’cause it was standing water for a week.

    Good luck. And please share any tips you get with the rest of us.

  2. Black-eyed Susans are definitely in the plan. I was thinking of mixing them with that other perennial that looks like it, but is purple. So the mums won’t feel lonely.

    So far, I am considering candytuft, daylilies, and maybe some calla lilies here and there (I love calla lilies). I also am thinking of dahlias, but I might keep them in pots on the porch instead.

    I also have a raised retaining wall, and I would love to have some greenery and maybe some small flowers draped over the top, in a cascading effect. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out what would be appropriate. If you have any ideas, let me know!

    Sorry about your backyard. Hey, if you decide to re-design it, then we can compare notes as we go along. :)

  3. I have a really pretty perennial geranium in the front yard that might look nice on your retaining wall. I’ll try to look up the name for you. It has purple flowers that last all summer and doesn’t look anything like an annual geranium. It tolerates shade and spreads out nicely. It only gets about 9 to 12 inches tall, but produces lots and lots of flowers. It would look pretty cascading over a wall.

  4. Interestingly enough, just last Sunday we were looking at this pretty little garden with what looked like small roses (but I could tell they weren’t – the stems were succulent). They were mixed with red, pink, and white geraniums. It was such a happy combination!

    Lots and lots of flowers would look nice on my wall. I’ll have to acquaint myself with geraniums. Thanks for the tip!

  5. I can’t believe your glads came back a 2nd year living in zone 6! I too love glads, but won’t plant them due to the need to dig them up in northern climes (I’m a zone 5). Some things I have had excellent luck with coming back year after year are peonies, bearded irises, bleeding hearts and phlox. I have the tall phlox, but creeping phlox is quite prolific and would look great on your wall. To me, although I love them, roses are expensive annuals! I bought all of those items out of a gardening catalog years ago and I still look wonderful today. I took bunches of pictures of flowers in my yard this year – if you ever want to take a peek, let me know and I’ll send you a link to my pictures on Snapfish.

  6. A big oops in that last comment – I meant to say “they” not “I” look wonderful today! The flowers look wonderful, not me!!!!

  7. Okay, I’m done laughing here. That comment just killed me! (And I’m sure you look wonderful, too.)

    I’ve been wanting to try creeping phlox on the wall. I just have to find a good nursery/greenhouse in my area that has enough of a variety so I can make some choices.

    I remember the first time I saw a bleeding heart plant. I couldn’t believe it was real. Such an interesting flower.

    I’d love to see pictures of your garden. I need inspiration.

  8. Have you thought of ‘Coral Bells’ (hucheras [sp] is the scientific name? The colors of the leaves are everything from pale lime green to midnight purple. The flowers are an afterthough but the leaves!!! Wow, the leaves are deer- and rabbit-proof and in our nect of the woods, we have the leaves all year rouund. We areeither zone 5 or 6 depending on which book you read. They stay about 6″ high and wil make a mound aboit 20″ in diameter unless you get a mini. They are about 6- to 10-inches around.

    BTW, I found you at Pioneer Woman and appreciate you ability to write (so many can’t) so I decided to check your spot out, and I’m liking it!

  9. CarolQ, thanks for dropping in. The Coral Bells suggestion sounds perfect! I do have a problem with deer and rabbit in my area, so anything that keeps them from munching on my plants would be great. Can I plant them near my rose bushes too? The deer like chomping on my rosebuds. It drives me nuts!

  10. Coral Bells could be close to the roses. I don’t see why not ‘course you would have to be careful where you stepped when you went to pick some roses.

    The Coral Bells won’t drive the deer and rabbits away, I don’t think. But they are beautiful.

  11. Your WordPress would not let me make a comment again. Just because I said, er, wrote Coral Bells?

    I don’t think the plants would chase the deer and rabbits away but at least they won’t chew on the CBs.

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